Damn Yankees
My interest in the Damn Yankees was purely inspired by the fact the Ted Nugent was their guitarist. The Yanks are a "supergroup" with Tommy Shaw (Styx) and Jack Blades (Night Ranger) also on board.

Damn Yankees (Warner Bros.)

1. "Coming of Age" (4:21)
2. "Bad Reputation" (4:29)
3. "Runaway" (4:02)
4. "High Enough" (4:43)
5. "Damn Yankees" (4:37)
6. "Come Again" (5:38)
7. "Mystified" (4:14)
8. "Rock City" (4:28)
9. "Tell Me How You Want It" (4:32)
10. "Piledriver" (4:18)

I was flipping through the used cds at a local shop and listening to the kid next to me in the Korn shirt have a discussion with his friend who was wearing a Metallica t-shirt. They picked up a used copy of this cd and laughed. The kid in the Korn shirt said of Ted Nugent, who is simply wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, "ah, he's just trying to copy Metallica when they were an 80's band." Shows how ignorant the trend following kids are today that they don't even know the roots of their own music. This is a band of rock legends, especially Ted Nugent, who has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid in grade school. (My mom bought me "Double Live Gonzo" as a new release. If she would've actually heard the album she would have flipped.) Unfortunately, Ted's influence on the bands sound wasn't what I had hoped and this album sounds more like Night Ranger than anything the wackmaster would crank out. Glossy 80's adult-oriented, radio-ready, hard rock (AOR) is what we get.

Don't Tread Damn Yankees-Don't Tread (Warner Bros.)

1. "Don't Tread on Me" (5:08)
2. "Fifteen Minutes of Fame" (4:50)
3. "Where You Goin' Now" (4:40)
4. "Dirty Dog" (4:54)
5. "Mister Please" (4:19)
6. "Silence Is Broken" (5:03)
7. "Firefly" (4:57)
8. "Someone to Believe" (4:57)
9. "This Side of Hell" (4:00)
10. "Double Coyote" (4:44)
11. "Uprising" (5:31)

A bit heavier than their debut. "Don't Tread On Me" starts off with what sounds like a Ted Nugent inspired riff before breaking into a semi-heavy melodic metal song continuing right into another rocker "Fifteen Minutes of Fame." The rest of the album follows in a similar pattern to the debut with radio ready ballads and hard rock anthems. Not really up to par with anything Ted Nugent did as a solo artist in my opinion.

Back to Index